Old Secrets
by Clouds at Sunset
Summary: "We'll find out soon enough. Old secrets can't stay buried forever." - Yellowfang to Bluestar in Sunrise; page 4. And suddenly, they all seem to be coming out. 17 seasons ago, Dustkit and Viperkit were born. 12 seasons ago, Dustpetal disappeared. 10 seasons ago, ShadeClan stopped searching. 6 moons ago, Sootkit and Foxkit were born. Now? The truth is about to be revealed...


**_Hi,_**

**_Clouds at Sunset here. Thanks so much to everyone who gave me OCs in response to my story (taken down now) 'Warrior OCs?'. Unfortunately, I could not use them all, but I did use quite a few. So thank you! This is my first warriors fanfiction so bear with me if it's a little rough at times. I do not have a beta yet, but plan to have one by the time this story is… say, five chapters long. I'm going to try to update at least once a week, but it might be a little late at times, so again – bear with me. The prologue IS very short, but it's more informative than anything else, and rest assured, later chapters WILL be significantly longer. Please review; constructive criticism is welcomed and very much appreciated._**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors, or anything to do with Warriors. Over half of these original characters are not mine; they belong to their respective owners who gave them to me for this story. The only things I do own are my original characters, Clans, and ideas. Roses are red, violets are blue, I no own, you no sue._**

* * *

**Leader:** Sparrowstar – a skinny black she-cat with oversized paws

**Deputy:** Darkfrost - an ice-white tom with a gray tail  
Apprentice, Whitepaw

**Medicine Cat:** Ravenwing - a black she-cat with blue eyes

**Warriors:**

Stonefang - a gray tom with blue eyes  
Apprentice, Brackenpaw

Shimmerwing - a ginger tabby she-cat with white paws, underbelly and tail-tip

Dusktail – a dark gray tom with faint rings on his tail  
Apprentice, Whitepaw

Gingerstep - a pale ginger tabby tom with green eyes

Cloudshine – a beautiful white she-cat with a long, feathery tail  
Apprentice, Nightpaw

Pinebark – a dark brown tabby tom with yellow-green eyes  
Apprentice, Wildpaw

Brambleheart – a light brown-and-white tabby she-cat (expecting Pinebark's kits)

Flameclaw – a dark ginger tom with white paws and a white blaze

Mudstripe – a reddish-brown tom with gray forepaws  
Apprentice, Smokepaw

Amberpelt – a dark ginger she-cat with amber eyes and a scarred muzzle

Thornfur – a long-furred, dark gray tabby tom

Lilynose – a gray she-cat with hazel eyes

Fernfrond – a dark gray tabby she-cat with green eyes

Shadowfrost - a pure black tom with amber eyes

Honeyflight - a ginger tabby she-cat with one blue eye and one green eye

**Apprentices:**

Nightpaw – a long-furred black she-cat with pale blue eyes

Wildpaw - a dark russet tabby tom with a bobbed tail

Brackenpaw - a dark gray tom with white facial markings

Whitepaw - a white she-cat with gray dapples

Smokepaw - a dark gray tom with a black marking around one eye

**Queens:**

Viperfang – a dusty gray she-cat with large gold-yellow eyes (mother of Flameclaw's kits: Sootkit – a fluffy gray she-cat with a bushy tail and Foxkit – a russet she-kit with huge golden eyes)

Mistshadow - a pale gray-blue she-cat with blue eyes (mother of Gingerstep's kits: Blossomkit - a dark tortoiseshell she-cat, Vinekit - a tan tabby she-cat, and Leopardkit - a dark golden tom)

**Elders:**

Mouseflight – a graying brown she-cat missing part of her left forepaw

Icefur – a good-natured white tom with brown spots and blue eyes

* * *

**_Prologue_**

It was on a stormy, moonless night that Mouseflight birthed Adderstrike's kits – half a moon early, at that. The elders gossiped that it was a bad sign, and that the kits would surely die. The older medicine cat – a grumpy tom named Quailheart tended to the anxious queen, but only half-heartedly, prophesying that "it's either her or the kits". Only his apprentice, Ravenwing – then Ravenpaw – held out hope.

Nonetheless, by the time the sun rose, Mouseflight and Adderstrike had two healthy daughters: Dustkit, who inherited her mother's brown fur and her father's blue eyes; and Viperkit, who in turn got her father's solid gray pelt and her mother's wide gold eyes.

The two kits remained on the small side, but grew strong and fast with play. At six moons, Dustpaw was apprenticed to Icefur, and Viperpaw to his brother, Darkwillow. The two were completely inseparable – Dustpaw refused to go to what should've been their first Gathering when Viperpaw was too sick, and Viperpaw refused to go on what was meant to be their trip to the Moonstream when Dustpaw had been wounded in a border-fight two sunrises before. They were not only sisters, they were best friends and trusted each other with their lives.

However, it was not long after they became warriors, that disaster struck.

One day, Dustpetal disappeared. There was no scent trail, no evidence to show that she had been taken by a fox, badger, enemy Clan, or anything – she was simply gone. ShadeClan searched everywhere for her. They asked the other Clans at every Gathering for two seasons after. They even sent patrols to look outside the edges of ShadeClan territory. And of course, no one tried harder than Viperfang. She didn't sleep for days on end, and spent all her time out in the forest looking, calling her sister's name desperately.

But it was all for naught. Dustpetal seemed to have vanished off the very face of the Earth, and eventually, she was – well, not forgotten, but pushed to the back of their minds. Even Viperfang lost hope after so many seasons.

Eventually, she settled down with one of her clanmates, Flameclaw, and like her mother before her, had two she-kits: Sootkit and Foxkit. Sootkit took after her mother with her dusky gray pelt, but had her father's long fur, bushy tail, and blue eyes. Foxkit was the opposite – her russet fur belonged to Flameclaw, but apart from that, she was a miniature version of her mother. And while Viperfang still grieved for her sister, she was as happy as she could be under the circumstances. She had lost her best friend, but she still had a good life, a loving mate, two beautiful kits, and her clanmates' support. Unfortunately – or could it be fortunately? Good? Bad? Both? – old secrets never stay buried forever, and what was about to happen in the next few seasons, would be told, and retold, and re-retold, and re-re-told for decades to come.


End file.
